- A homeless man, security guard and a minibus passenger all die as Robert Mugabe is transported around Zimbabwe
- The 88-year-old tyrant’s motorcade is said to be the longest in Africa and his vehicle is a luxury Mercedes
- Dictator has made it law that motorists have to pull over if they see the presidential car approaching
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s motorcade has been involved in a third fatal road smash in just two weeks.
The 88-year-old tyrant’s line of official vehicles smashed into a minibus on Sunday, leaving one man dead.
The bloody accident happened a fortnight after two people were killed in a single day in two separate smashes involving the presidential motorcade.
In the latest incident, reported on the The New Zimbabwe website, a bus passenger was killed and 15 people injured on Sunday afternoon.
It happened as Mugabe was being driven in a convoy to the country’s capital Harare from his home village of Zvimba.
The website said: ‘President Robert Mugabe’s motorcade was involved in a third accident on Sunday inside two weeks.
‘The presidential motorcade was making a brisk return to Harare from Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba when a police lead vehicle sent to clear traffic rammed into a commuter minibus carrying 22 passengers.
‘A male passenger in the minibus, known locally as a kombi, died on impact with the police Mercedes while 15 others – including two police officers – were injured.’
It is believed Mugabe’s lengthy motorcade was speeding the president to the international airport ahead of a scheduled flight to Brazil.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the accident happened after the minibus taxi driver ignored the presidential convoy’s flashing blue lights.
He said: ‘The police vehicle was flashing its blue lights. A vehicle travelling in the opposite direction pulled to the side of the road, and unfortunately the kombi driver took the decision to overtake that vehicle and smashed into the police car.’
The Zimbabwean president was on his way to a funeral on June 6 when the two previous incidents occurred.
Mugabe’s motorcade had two accidents on his way to a funeral before the latest incidentFirst of all, one of the tyrant’s outrider motorbikes killed a homeless man as they rushed the octogenarian president to a funeral.
The independent Daily News reported the motorbike which knocked down the pedestrian had been the first vehicle in Mugabe’s motorcade, which is reportedly one of the longest in Africa.
The newspaper claimed the rest of the statesman’s long chain of vehicles sped by without stopping to help the victim.
The 88-year-old statesman is traditionally ensconced safely in a luxury Mercedes limousine when he travels around his poverty-stricken country.
The presidential vehicle is accompanied by more than a dozen others as part of an extensive motorcade which includes Land Cruisers, security vehicles full of armed soldiers, high-powered motorcycles and a standby ambulance.
It is believed Mugabe was being transported from Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Wednesday to a funeral in his home village of Zvimba when the accident happened.
The Daily News reported that several of the leader’s security guards were later injured in a second accident after a tyre blew out in one of their Land Cruisers.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba confirmed the victims of both accidents had been taken to hospital.
The motorcade smash comes a decade after Mugabe brought in new laws to ease his passage around Zimbabwe.
Since 2002 motorists have been legally required to pull over if they see the presidential car approaching.
It is also an offence to gesticulate at the motorcade with the intention of insulting those inside.
Offenders have previously been arrested or met with a robust physical response from Mugabe’s guards.
